FBCHS Bible Study- "Around the Throne "

 Around the Throne 
Revelation 4:1-11

Revelation’s vision of the heavenly throne room now introduces people to God, who is the Creator. The scene pictures a rightly ordered universe in which God is at the center. Around the throne are four living creatures, who represent the created order. The creatures’ faces are those of a wild and a domestic animal, a bird, and a human being. The one with the human face does not take the central place of God, but with all creation joins in praise of God. The elders are the heavenly representatives of the community of faith. As they cast down their crowns before the throne, they recognize that God and not the elders is Lord of all. God is praised for being the Creator of all things.Although Revelation is usually seen as a book of destruction, God’s fundamental identity is that of Creator. This scene anticipates the outcome of the book, where God’s purposes culminate in new creation. The words “holy, holy, holy” and the images of casting down crowns by heaven’s glassy sea have inspired many of the hymns we use in worship. Revelation functions rightly when it invites us into worship too—which we do as we add our voices to the song.